An emergency was declared on board a Turkish Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Istanbul on February 4, 2026, after a fire broke out in its right engine mid-air, according to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation.
According to information from Flightradar24, flight TK727 took off from Kathmandu (KTM) at 13:28 local time on February 4, 2026, on a scheduled route to Istanbul (IST).
The aircraft, an Airbus A330-303 with the registration TC-LNG, was set to cover a distance of 5,317 kilometers with an average flight duration of 7 hours and 44 minutes. However, shortly after takeoff, the flight changed its planned westward course.
According to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, the diversion happened after the crew reported a fire in the right engine while in the air. There were 236 people on board, consisting of 225 passengers and 11 crew members.
After the incident, the crew turned off the affected engine and diverted the aircraft to Kolkata Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) instead of continuing to Istanbul.
Despite the emergency situation, the aircraft had enough fuel to stay in the air for several additional hours, enabling the crew to manage a controlled diversion.
Gyanendra Bhul, Deputy Spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), told The Indian Express that the pilot notified the Kathmandu control tower promptly and shut down the malfunctioning engine. The aircraft then continued to Kolkata with the engine shut off.
Airport officials declared a full emergency and the aircraft landed safely in Kolkata at 15:03 local time. Reportedly, there were no injuries among the passengers or crew during the incident.
